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World Economic Forum Articles
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3.0 Characteristics of men’s and women’s enterprises: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article Growth has become Africa's new development strategy, according to panellists at the plenary session. They believe that the high growth rates being experienced by many countries can be sustained through political stability and good macroeconomic policies. However, it is also true that high oil and commodity prices had helped to push up the continent's growth rate to a 30 year high of 5.5% in 2005. Champions from Africa: What It Takes to Be a Global Leader - Click To Read Article "Aspiration is a driver of socio economic development", said Brian C Bruce, Chief Executive, Murray & Roberts Holdings, South Africa. South Africa has been and remains a critical link in the world, he said. This is exemplified by its leaders Jan Smuts who influenced the future shape of the world between the wars, Thabo Mbeki with his vision for Africa in the 21st century, both bringing different perspectives to the global dialogue. 1.0 Overview: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article An appreciation of gender issues is important when considering strategies to improve Africa’s competitiveness in the world and ways to promote private-sector development.There are three main reasons why gender matters. 4.0 Gender differences in constraints and opportunities: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article Do women and men entrepreneurs face different constraints in managing their businesses? 5.0 How is the performance of businesses affected?: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article The analysis of constraints developed in the previous section indicates that, although there are cases in which women are more likely to identify certain obstacles as “major” or “very severe,” men’s and women’s perceptions tend to be in agreement more often than we might have expected. 6.0 The broader context: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article Although the focus on formal sector entrepreneurs sheds light on a particular, if small, facet of entrepreneurial activity, it is important to bear in mind both the wider context in which such activity occurs in Africa and the limitations of available data in interpreting these results. 6.1 The informal sector: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007 - Click To Read Article Entrepreneurs—male or female—constitute a very small percentage of the population, according to household survey data. Almost everywhere, less than 1 percent of all women of working age (15 to 65 years old) are “employers”—that is, women who own a business in which they employ hired labor. 6.2 Legal and regulatory constraints: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007 - Click To Read Article Many African countries are characterized by the coexistence of dual or multiple legal systems, which lead to greater insecurity of women’s legal status, compared with men. Powering Africa - Click To Read Article The demand for nuclear energy as the most efficient form of energy that does not emit carbon dioxide will grow in the future as urgency grows for finding solutions to global warming and climate change, participants in this session heard. Join the Africa Conversation - Click To Read Article One month before this World Economic Forum on Africa, the Forum created an Africa Conversation blog and invited people around the world to contribute ideas and questions for a special session at the meeting in Cape Town. More than 50 comments were received via the site, e-mail, SMS, voicemail or videos uploaded to YouTube. Moderator Peter Sullivan, Group Editor-in-Chief, Independent Newspapers, South Africa, said most of the comments were from Nigeria. Update: NEPAD e schools Initiative - Click To Read Article The ambitious NEPAD e schools project aims to impart ICT skills to young people throughout the continent, reaching 600,000 schools in 54 countries over the next ten years. Henry Chasia, Executive Deputy Chairperson, The NEPAD e Africa Commission, South Africa, said this is a massive undertaking. It is necessary to have partnerships, and the private sector IT companies have joined from the very beginning. How to Spend It: Making the Most of Aid - Click To Read Article Africa can absorb and manage increased aid flows. That was the consensus expressed at the plenary session. In his introductory remarks, Graham Mackay, Chief Executive, SABMiller, United Kingdom; Co Chair of the Africa Economic Summit 2005, made clear his view that there is no realistic alternative to continuing aid, with a doubling of flows needed over the next three to five years. This, though, he warned, runs against the present current of declining flows. Private Equity: Africa for Sale? - Click To Read Article Leslie W. Maasdorp, Vice-Chairman, Absa Capital and Barclays Capital, South Africa, a Young Global Leader, opened with the remark that it is very clear the private equity industry has experienced unprecedented growth. But this activity is also attended by concern, he said, both from regulators and those who foresee the possibility of newly acquired companies becoming saddled with debt. Rebranding Africa - Click To Read Article The focus of this WorkSpace session changed to "Perceptions of Africa" under the direction of the facilitator, Peter Sullivan, Group Editor in Chief, Independent Newspapers, South Africa. How Business Boosts Development - Click To Read Article The experience of the richer powers today shows that the private sector provides the base for a country's development, said Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada. Visitors to most developing countries see evidence of widespread entrepreneurship in bazaars and markets and of the skills possessed by local people. So why have these nations not also been able to make the same economic advances as countries in Europe and North America? One explanation he has heard, said Martin, is that indigenous business has no confidence that it will be able to overcome the various administrative barriers that dominate economic life, that property rights can be protected, or that legal systems can bring real justice. How far is this true? he asked his fellow panellists. Walking the Talk: Business Challenges for the NEPAD - Click To Read Article Business and government leaders in South Africa say the formation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has led to cooperation to implement programmes in the country and across Africa which embrace the spirit of the NEPAD. Making Africa an Even Better Place to Do Business - Click To Read Article Refreshingly, little time was wasted by Facilitator William Kalema, Chairman, Uganda Investment Authority; Commissioner, Commission for Africa, in getting discussions under way. Participants, he said, understood the issues. Youth and Entrepreneurship: Part 2 - Click To Read Article Participants in the second part of this interactive session explored some of the most dynamic political, economic and cultural forces that will either empower or suppress the region s ability to create 50 million new jobs in the next five years. The challenge is daunting, all agreed. But new opportunities open every day. What s Holding Back Africa s Growth? - Click To Read Article This plenary session discussed the contributing factors to Africa s poor economic growth, including the conclusions of the World Economic Forum s Africa Competitiveness Report 2004, and the actions that governments and business can take to promote economic growth. The discussion included calls from business participants and the panel for action against corruption on the continent. Reinventing Foreign Aid: "Help Us Help Ourselves" - Click To Read Article Participants discussed how to improve aid allocation, increase its efficiency and reduce wastage. The goal is to deploy aid better to enhance the prospects for sustainable development, said Robert Klitgaard, Professor of International Development and Security and Dean, The RAND Graduate School, USA. Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique, agreed that the key issue is efficiency. He noted that often while donors and recipients might agree on principles and delivery terms, full implementation of aid programmes are often not smooth or timely. Problems arise sometimes for such simple reasons as the difference between when the fiscal year begins in developing countries and developed ones. The aid community must look at ways to solve problems and improve efficiency so that non performing countries become performing ones. 2.0 Gender in African economies: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007 - Click To Read Article The study Can Africa Claim the 21st Century? made the argument that Africa has enormous unexploited potential, especially the potential of women. Specifically, it pointed out that women comprise one of Africa’s hidden growth reserves, providing most of the region’s labor, but their productivity is hampered by widespread inequality in education as well as unequal access to land and productive inputs. 6.3 Limitations of Enterprise Survey data for gender analysis: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007 - Click To Read Article Although the Enterprise Survey data are without doubt a rich source of information about enterprises, their activity, and their constraints, they have important limitations for investigating entrepreneurship disaggregated by sex 7.0 Conclusions: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa 2007 - Click To Read Article This chapter shows that both men and women are active as entrepreneurs in Africa, and their enterprises share many common characteristics. The Emerging Strength of Emerging Markets - Click To Read Article The rise of emerging markets appears to be the defining economic theme of the current decade – much as information technology was in the 1990s and Japan’s manufacturing prowess was in the 1980s. Both of those stories, however, ultimately ended in speculative excess and painful corrections. Will the same thing happen in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries? Or is the emerging markets boom still in its infancy? If the answer to the latter question is yes, will the developed world turn to protectionism in an attempt to preserve its dominant position in the global economy? African Brands - Click To Read Article The question of whether Africa can or should be promoted as a brand, or whether this will better be done by promoting individual products and countries, developed into a theme during this session. From Rhetoric to Action: The African Investment Climate Facility - Click To Read Article The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) for Africa, an innovative public private partnership aimed at making Africa a better place in which to do business, was launched. The Commission for Africa, convened by the United Kingdom government, had proposed the initiative, which was endorsed at last year's World Economic Forum Africa Economic Summit and by the leaders of the G 8 industrialized nations at their summit in Scotland. According to ICF Co Chair and session Chair Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Reuters, United Kingdom; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, the facility had already received US$ 90 million in commitments. Additional unspecified pledges made by the European Union and the African Development Bank during the session were likely to push the total above US$ 100 million. Developing African Capital Markets - Click To Read Article In his introductory remarks, moderator John Hanson, Managing Editor, Business & Financial Times, Ghana, noted that African development needed capital, yet capital is very scarce. The answer is for the continent to develop well functioning capital markets. There has been some progress, but not enough, due to many barriers. Enhancing Africa's Global Competitiveness through Economic Governance - Click To Read Article Africa would seem to have a unique opportunity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and hence to build its international competitiveness by the investment uncertainties created by the needs for the US and EU to solve their particular economic problems. This was a theme running through the deliberations of the plenary session. Briefing: Investing in People - Click To Read Article Mamphela Ramphele, Co Chair, Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM), Geneva, introduced the session by asking the Commission for Africa to outline its central message regarding investment in Africa s human resources, and what recommendations it has made to promote such investmen Making Finance Work for Africa - Click To Read Article South Africa’s success in getting the financial sector to extend services to poorer communities could be adapted for other African countries, said Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance of South Africa. He told participants that this is exactly what has been achieved by South Africa’s Financial Sector Charter. The charter was developed some four years ago by the financial sector, including banks and insurers, after the government urged it to transform its practices and policies Africa's Secret Talent Pool - Click To Read Article The skills and capacity problems of Africa will not be resolved until women, who comprise an estimated 50% of the potential workforce, are recognized, empowered, trained and allowed to take their place in business and government. Because of the size of the problem, panellists suggested changes to benefit women in the male dominated professional environment need to be legislated to be effective. Competitive Cities as Drivers of Growth - Click To Read Article Africa has the world's fastest rate of urbanization, Ade Animashahun, Managing Director, Investec Asset Management, South Africa, told participants at the start of the session on competitive cities. But, what are the key ingredients to ensuring that the growing cities are competitive and drivers of growth? he asked. Can Emerging Markets Follow China's FDI Growth Recipe? - Click To Read Article China's ability to attract massive amounts of foreign investment does not derive entirely from its economic growth rate or the size of its population, observed Stephen J. Kobrin, Professor of Multinational Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA. Rather, China leads the developing world in liberalizing its foreign investment policies, he noted. Felipe Larra Bascu Professor of Economics, Catholic University of Chile, Chile, challenged this view, saying he believed that it was China's large marketplace, high growth rate and low costs rather than its investment policies driving FDI. Between these extremes, Paul A. Laudicina, Managing Director, A.T. Kearney, USA, said that interviews with his firm's clients revealed that it was both the size of China's marketplace and its policies that were luring investment. ICT for Development - Click To Read Article Two interlinking questions need asking, said Louis N. Diakit窠Chief Executive Officer, Afripa Telecom, Cd Ivoire and Global Leader for Tomorrow 2002, as he introduced the session. How is technology affecting development in Africa? and; How is African innovation affecting the way technology itself is used? Partnership for Africa's Regeneration - Click To Read Article Changing international perceptions of Africa and getting all levels of society involved in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) were among the declared priorities at the final plenary session of the Africa Economic Summit 2003 in Durban. Business Solutions to Hunger in Africa - Click To Read Article The father of Bata Shoe Foundation's Chairman Thomas J. Bata once reportedly dispatched two emissaries to quietly investigate business growth potential in Africa. Returning from the east coast one warned: "Don't bother, it's a complete waste of time here. I mean, people are going around barefoot.” The other landed on the west coast and enthused: "It's wonderful here. The opportunities are unlimited. Everyone is still barefoot!" Youth and Entrepreneurship: Part 1 - Click To Read Article Participants disagreed over the notion that "entrepreneurs are born, not made." They debated "if youth is a condition of age or mindset." They disputed whether "governments role is to create an enabling environment" for business, or "just get out of the way." But they all agreed these forces must work in concert in the Arab world, and fast. Like this article? Share it with your friends
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